Infield - Chilean and Bolivian adventures

Infield, a one-week course mid-way through the abroad stay, was a wonderful oppertunity to see the other norwegians again, share and process our experiences thus far, and have time to dream about what we would still like to contribute with and get out of the rest of our stay. Wheche, our professor from Hald (and my personal hero) flew in with the intern Tor Haakon, and from La Paz, Bolivia, we went together to Coroico, a beautiful small town three hours north of La Paz.

Since Infield was in the beginning of January, a group of us Norwegians decided to meet up and celebrate New Year's together in Arica -- a small Chilean beach town right accross the border from Peru. From there, we took an overnight bus to Puno, on lake Titicaca (at 3821meters, it is the highest navigable lake in the world). Our bodies were in a little bit of a shock, going from beachlife one day, to freezing weather and altitude sickness the next, but we took it easy and stocked up on some traditional alpacca gear to keep warm! Lots of pictures below, including our visit to the floating islands, man-made by layers upon layers of straw, and inhabited by the Uro peoples.

New Years Eve in Chile: (from the left) Guro, Thea, Elin, me, Vegard, and Kristine (Kristin was there too, but was taking the picture).

A miniature representation of life on the floating islands

An older man making handicrafts to sell on the island. Tourism has becoming one of the main sources of income for these people.

Strong colors and indigenous patterns is common.

On our way from Puno to La Paz, we had an hour stop in the small town Copacabana, also on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

From the famous cathedral of Copacabana.

Crossing the border: Thea, Kristin, Kristine, Elin, and Vegard

Busy markets

A saleswoman protecting herself from the hot mid-day sun in La Paz.

A small boy looking lost on the streets.

Two older women on the streets of La Paz.

Celebrating Elin's 23rd birthday while visiting Alalay right outside of La Paz, where Vegard ad Guro work. Marius and Svenn, who work at Alalay, Santa Cruz, had also joined us at this point.